Why do we love Oprah?
Talk-show host, media mogul, inspiration, one of us. Oprah is a force of nature. She comes into our homes and shares her struggles of living a better life, and in the process, she allows us all to choose to be happy. Her dedication to leaving this world a better place than she found it has touched the lives of millions in ways tiny and profound. In a world awash with cynicism, Oprah had the courage to be good. Her choices have made her one of the most successful women on the planet, but we all have reaped the benefits.
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Biography:
Born - January 29, 1954
Kosciusko, Miss.
Achievements:
- The first woman in history to own and produce her own talk show, and the
only African-American woman in TV or film to own her own studio.
- Most successful African-American woman in business, with an estimated net
worth of almost one billion dollars (it would be even higher if her company were publicly traded).
- Nominated for Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1985 for The Color Purple.
- Winner of 7 individual Emmy awards for hosting The Oprah Winfrey Show,
which has won 34 Emmys.
- Awarded Lifetime Achievement Award by the Television Academy of Arts and
Sciences in 1998.
- Winner of the George Foster Peabody Individual Achievement Award and the
International Radio and Television Society's Gold Medal Award in 1996.
- In 1991, she initiated the National Child Protection Act, testifying
before the Senate Judiciary Committee to establish a national database of
convicted child abusers. President Clinton signed the "Oprah bill" into law
in 1993.
- Named Most Important Person in both the Books and Media categories by
Newsweek magazine in 1997 for her work on her show and with Oprah's Book
Club. Named Television Performer of the Year by TV Guide magazine.
- Received the National Book Foundation 50th Anniversary Medal in 1999 for
her work to promote reading and books.
- Named one of the Most Influential People of the Century by Time magazine.
- Perennially appears at or near the top of Fortune magazine's lists of Top Women in Business and the Forbes magazine Celebrity 100 in both power and money rankings, chosen one of the 10 Most Important Black Business Luminaries in history by the readers of Black Enterprise magazine.
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In her own words -- On life lessons:
"And that, to me, has been the greatest lesson of my life: to recognize that I am solely responsible for it, and not trying to please other people, and not living my life to please other people, but doing what my heart says all the time. That's the biggest lesson for me." |
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